$20K Savings Challenge.....DECEMBER Update & YEAR END TOTAL

Here is my DECEMBER Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.

This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 was $20,000. 
Our background info--We are a family of 5(kids are 21-16)with one living away from home.  We have 2 dogs. We own 4 cars at present and live in/own free & clear a 4 bedroom house in a small town.

On to the December report.....

I have posted my DECEMBER End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up December in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of December with?.......$2,555.70

Income
We had $2,378.54 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted. 

Add in 2 year-end dividend checks from investments and a small refund on our car insurance.  When combined, these totaled $177.16.   This brought our gain to $2,555.70 for December.

Outgo

As for the expenses this December, most of them were on the bad side, rather than the good side....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The cash withdrawals were $200 lower.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill went up $3+.

*  The medical/dr. bills were $47 higher than last month. 

*  The credit card bill went up $778.

*  The electric bill went up by $83.

*  The car needed new tires to the tune of $439.29.

*  There was extra money spent in Dec. due to Christmas.

The Food Budget costs for DECEMBER are in another post, which is located HERE.

We managed to almost stay within our $400 food budget in December.

The 2012 GRAND TOTAL.....
With 12 months behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 ended with  $28,907.08 in the fund!

We were able to hit our $20,000 goal plus almost another $9,000.

I am happy with how much we saved in 2012.
Some months it was easy and some months we had a hard time scraping together $1000 to put aside and not spend.
Heck, we were even NEGATIVE money in September!

So how was your December financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge....SEPTEMBER Update

As promised, this will not be pretty. 8-(

Ok, here is my SEPTEMBER Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.

This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.  Ok....not so much this month, but in general. lol

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund.
Our background info--We are a family of 5(kids are 21-16)with one living away from home.  We have 2 dogs. We own 4 cars at present and live in/own free & clear a 4 bedroom house in a small town.

On to the September report.....

I have posted my SEPTEMBER End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up September in the RED!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of September with?.......Negative $153.54
So we went backwards and are now $153.54 further away from our goal for the year.

meh.

Income
We had -$236.86 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Luckily we had a Stock Dividend, a car insurance Reimbursement and some Bank Interest to offset this net loss for September.  This combined $83.32 brought our net less down to -$153.54 for September.

Yes folks, the loss could have been worse without this little bit of income.

Outgo
The usual along with large irregular bill AND an unexpected/unplanned for expense converged on September to make it our worst month for savings since I can remember.

As for the expenses this September......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The school taxes were paid and planned for so the money was there.

* The credit card bill decreased by $250.85.
* The cash withdrawals went down $550.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill went up $26.62-this was mostly due to Hubs closing the pool for the winter.

*  The electric bill went up $5.42.
* 2 unexpected car repairs totaling $1,551.75. Yah, THAT was the real bad ones.

The Food Budget costs for SEPTEMBER are in another post, which is located HERE.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 9 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is at  $16,215.75.

Not only did we NOT save the $1666.67 we need to each month in September, but we lost $153.54 toward the goal that we had saved up to this point.

Luckily though, we had a few "better than our monthly goal" months so far so we are still on track to get to our $20K mark by the end of 2012.

With 9 months done, we should be at $15,000.03  saved for the year, so we are still $1K+ ahead.

At this point, I need to come up with $3,784.25 for the rest of the year to make my $20K goal.  This breaks down to $1,261.42  per month for the next 3 months.  Unless something untoward happens we should be able to meet this goal.

As for a look ahead at OCTOBER.......

*  No irregular bills are due this month.

*  Normal bills only are expected.

*  We have a trip to take so there will be some additional spending but it will not affect the budget.  Any cash needed for that will be taken out of the money I saved in 2011 for my Savings Challenge.

So how was your September financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in September?  Did you use it to pay down debt or build your Emergency Fund?

Even if what you are able to save each month doesn't look like a lot of money, figure out what percentage of your income you saved.  You might feel that it's a more substantial amount in those terms!

We saved 12.71% of our take home income in August.  My goal is to shoot for 50% each month.
Our heavy expenses in August had us fall short of my goal.

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.
Did you have debt you were able to pay on?
Did you pay off a car, a house or a credit card?
Did something financial blow up on you last month?
What are you doing financially to change your life?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge....AUGUST Update

Ok, here is my AUGUST Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.

This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund.
Our background info--We are a family of 5(kids are 21-16)with one living away from home.  We have 2 dogs. We own 4 cars at present and live in/own free & clear a 4 bedroom house in a small town.

On to the August report.....

I have posted my AUGUST End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up August in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of August with?.......$756.06.
So much for making our targeted amount this month. 8-(

Income
We had $753.77 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $2.29 in interest income(Are you serious?  Really!) and  you get a total of $756.06.

Outgo
The usual along with 1 large irregular bill which was expected and planned for.

As for the expenses this August......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The water bill decreased by $30+.

* The electric bill decreased by $21+.

* The credit card bill decreased by $702.
* The cash withdrawals went down $1170.....even with that they were high!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Semi-Annual Car Insurance was due at a cost of $1590.11.

*  Lots of little medical co-pays and prescription co-pays that added up to real money!
*  Lots of cash withdrawals(always a bad thing cuz Hubs doesn't track where this money goes). the cash taken was LESS than last month but it was still waaaay too much money so it goes under Bad Things.lol
*  Extra gas expenditures due to cross state pick-ups from camp.
*  Marching Band is back, which means $20 here, $30 there on a consistent basis. Also going hand in hand is....
*  Private music lessons cranking up again for #2 Son.  $120 a month.

The Food Budget costs for AUGUST are in another post, which is located HERE.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 8 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is at  $16,369.29.

We missed our monthly goal in August by $910.61.
Luckily due to having a few months where we saved more than the average, this month, where we didn't even save HALF of what we need to this month,  won't put us behind.

With 8 months done, we should be at $13,333.36  saved for the year, so we are $3K+ a little bit ahead for the year as of now!

In the next month we have another large irregular expense coming due.
September is school taxes at a yearly outlay of  $1950.

They are irregular because they don't come every month....like the water or electric bill.

But we know they are out there....lurking and ready to topple your budget.  So we calculate what 1/12th is for that bill and then every month set that amount aside and "hide it from the budget".  When the bill comes due in a year, the money is there to pay it.  It wasn't left in the general money fund(checking account)to mingle with the dollars that aren't earmarked for a specific purpose. 
Bill money has a funny way of doing that.......pretending it's really Not-Bill money or even Fun money and hiding in plain sight with the non-committed dollars in your account.

If you don't separate that irregular bill money, it's sooo easy to spend it on something else, possibly a non-necessity like eating out or a fancy coffee drink or going bowling on the weekend because you "deserve" some fun, or another shirt your kid really doesn't need because they have 38 more in their closet.
Even if you have to put that irregular bill money as a wad of singles into a coffee can and hide it in your shed or put it into a Tupperware into your deep freezer to keep from spending it on crap, DO IT!  You'll be glad you did when that irregular bill payment rolls around again....
****************
At this point, I need to come up with $3,630.71 for the rest of the year to make my $20K goal.  This breaks down to $907.68  per month for the next 4 months.  Unless something untoward happens we should be able to meet this goal.

As for a look ahead at SEPTEMBER.......

*  There is that School Taxes Bill. (Another irregular bill I've been saving every month for.) 

So how was your August financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in August?  Did you use it to pay down debt or build your Emergency Fund?

Even if what you are able to save each month doesn't look like a lot of money, figure out what percentage of your income you saved.  You might feel that it's a more substantial amount in those terms!

We saved 12.71% of our take home income in August.  My goal is to shoot for 50% each month.
Our heavy expenses in August had us fall short of my goal.

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.
Did you have debt you were able to pay on?
Did you pay off a car, a house or a credit card?
Did something financial blow up on you last month?
What are you doing financially to change your life?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge Report for JULY 2012

Ok, here is my JULY Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.

This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund. 
Our background info--We are a family of 5(kids are 21-16)with one living away from home.  We have 2 dogs. We own 3 cars at present and live in/own free & clear a 4 bedroom house in a small town.

On to the July report.....

I have posted my JULY End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up July in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of July with?.......$1641.83.

Income
We had $1639.44 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $2.39 in interest income(HAHAHAHAHA!) and  you get a total of $1641.83.

Outgo
The usual along with a couple of large irregular bills......1 expected and 1 out of the ordinary.

As for the expenses this July......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The water bill decreased by $30+.

* The electric bill decreased by $21+.

* The credit card bill decreased by $702.
* The cash withdrawals went down $1170.....even with that they were high!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Home owner's insurance was due, but expected. $596.

*  Bill came in for the Minivan from last month's repairs. $1496.68.

The Food Budget costs for JULY are in another post, which is located HERE.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 7 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $15,613.23.

We missed our monthly goal in July by $24.84. Since June's savings but us ahead for the year, I am not sweating a shortfall of $25 in July.

With 7 months done, we should be at $11,666.69  saved for the year, so we are $3946.54 ahead for the year as of now!

In the next 2 months we have largish irregular expenses coming due.
August is semi-annual car insurance at about $1500.
September is school taxes about another $1950.

They are irregular because they don't come every month....like the water or electric bill.  But two things about irregular bills--
1.They are usually for large amounts(due to the fact that they don't come round every month).
2. You KNOW THEY ARE COMING!  Yep, every year....so don't stick your head in the sand and ignore them.  Plan for them. Set a 12th of their amount aside each month so that when the due date rolls around, you have the money saved up to pay them in full.

We may actually get a break with our car insurance.  #1 Son is buying himself a car.  Since it will be in his name, he will need to have his own insurance policy, therefore we can have him taken off of our policy.  We tired to tell him that with our driving records, ages and the fact we get multiple discounts on our coverage, he's better off putting the car in our name and staying on our policy, and just paying us the extra it costs us to cover him and his car.

But 21 year old men want to feel virile and independent I guess, and paying through the nose for their own policy must be a testosterone inducing manly thing.  

But what do I know....... ;-)

At this point, I need to come up with $4386.77 for the rest of the year to make my $20K goal.  This breaks down to $877.35 per month for the next 5 months.


As for a look ahead at AUGUST.....
* Car insurance due.
* No celebrations here, no parties, just Boring McBorington at Chez Sluggy.

So how was your July financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in July?

 Even if it doesn't look like a lot of money, figure out what percentage of your income you saved.  You might feel that it's a more substantial amount in those terms!

We saved 28.74% of our take home income in July.  My goal is to shoot for 50% each month. If we hadn't had that car repair bill, we could have achieved saving 55% of the take-home income. 
Dang that car repair bill! lol

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.
Did you have debt you were able to pay on?
Did you pay off a car, a house or a credit card?
Did something financial blow up on you last month?
What are you doing financially to change your life?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge Report for JUNE 2012

Ok, here is my JUNE Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund.

On to the June report.....

I have posted my JUNE End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up June in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with?.......$4548.57!

Income
We had $4534.74 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $11.97 in Dividend revenue & $1.86 in interest(HAHAHAHAHA!) and  you get a total of $4548.57.

Outgo
Traditionally June has been a fairly normal month as far as spending goes.  No big tax bills or lump payments.  Just a higher water bill(due to opening the pool)and some costs associated with getting the kids off to summer camp.

As for the expenses this June......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* A third paycheck this month!

* The electric stayed about the same as May's bill.  It's still too high for me....

*  No car maintenance/repairs bills TO PAY this month.....we've got a whopper coming up in July however. 8-(

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The quarterly garbage bill was due....due but not expected.

*  Credit card bill was fairly high at $1300+.

*  The beagle needed surgery to remove a toe with a tumor.  It was not cancer(thankfully)but was cutting off blood flow to part of the foot, so had to be removed.  $400 of unexpected spending.

*  Cash spending(my food money and Hub's WAM money)was WAY HIGH again this month.  We need to sit down and talk about why this continues to be a problem.

The Food Budget costs for JUNE are in another post, which is located HERE.

I know I said in May that the 3rd paycheck would NOT go into the Savings Challenge pot, but would instead go toward the home improvement projects this year.  But we have an unexpected $1500+ car repair bill(which will be due in July) and our mini-vacation expenses(which was suppose to go onto the credit card-to be paid off in July) were paid for in cash instead in June, so we will put the extra check into the savings and then pull out of last year's Savings Challenge amount, the actual costs of the mini-vacation.  We also kept our income tax refund separate from the savings challenge monies, so we still have that to tap into for the home improvement projects.

Basically, it's all from the same big pile of money in the end so not a big deal.  This way, we put more into savings than we use from the old savings.  I know this makes no sense but trust me.....lol

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 6 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $13,971.40.

We hit our monthly goal in June and then some.  After falling behind what our monthly amount needed to be during the first 5 months of the year, now we are ahead of where we need to be.

With 6 months done, we should be at $10,000  saved for the year, so $3,971.40 ahead for the year!


I am so glad that June was a 3 paycheck month and we could put extra into the Savings Challenge and get a little ahead of my goal.  This extra paycheck in the cycle is the ONLY REASON we were able to put that much aside in June.....well "that" and we didn't go out and splurge on crap when we saw how much we had leftover at the end of June. ;-)

It's good because in the next 3 months we have largish irregular expenses coming due.
July is a car repair and homeowner's insurance.
August is semi-annual car insurance.
September is school taxes.

They are irregular because they don't come every month....like the water or electric bill.  But two things about irregular bills--
1.They are usually for large amounts(due to the fact that they don't come round every month).
2. You KNOW THEY ARE COMING!  Yep, every year....so don't stick your head in the sand and ignore them.  Plan for them.

Here is my plan for handling these 3 bills in the next few months.....

While the car repair bills in July, combined with the homeowner's insurance will top $2K, I will be able to pay them out of the reg. paycheck income.  The 2 variables in our budget, the food spending and the credit card bill will be less than anticipated/planned for in July, which will allow me to pay these irregular bills and the regular bills AND still have money to put into the Savings Challenge.

We get another extra paycheck month in August, so I'll split that check between paying the car insurance in August and the school taxes in September, leaving the regular paychecks those two months to pay regular bills and enough left over to put toward the Savings Challenge.

At this point, I only need to come up with $6028.60 for the rest of the year to make my $20K goal.  This breaks down to $1004.77 per month for the next 6 months.  I am confident I can find $1005 per month to set aside for savings.....barring some untoward event.


As for a look ahead at JULY.....
* Big car repair due.
* House insurance due.
* No trips planned other than maybe going to get #2 Son from camp this month.
* No celebrations here, no parties, just Boring McBorington at Chez Sluggy.

So how was your June financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in June? 

 Even if it doesn't look like a lot of money, figure out what percentage of your income you saved.  You might feel that it's a more substantial amount in those terms!

We saved 47% of our take home income in June.  My goal is to shoot for 50% each month.  Even with that extra paycheck last month however, I couldn't make 50%, as our expenses were just too high.

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.
Did you have debt you were able to pay on?
Did you pay off a car, a house or a credit card?
Did something financial blow up on you last month?
What are you doing financially to change your life?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge Report for May 2012

Ok, here is my May Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund.

On to the May report.....

I have posted my MAY End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up May in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of May with?.......$2,832.03!

Income
We had $2728.26 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $2.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses, $101.31 in blog ad revenue & $.46 in interest(HAHAHAHAHA!) and  you get a total of $2,832.03.

Outgo
Traditionally May has been a fairly normal month as far as spending goes.  No big tax bills or lump payments. 

As for the expenses this May......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill was boringly the same.

*  The mild winter temps continued, which decreased our heating/electric bill by about $25.  The second consecutive month for a decrease....yay!

*   The credit card was $400 less than last month's bill.  It was still over $1K though. bleh!
*  No car maintenance/repairs bills this month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Credit card bill was fairly high at $1000+.

*  We bought a new dishwasher.

*  The new dishwasher meant hiring a plumber to install it(our house is weird)....that was $265!!!

*  Another vet bill for 1 of the dogs.  Not large but it's still unusual spending.

*  Cash spending(my food money and Hub's WAM money)was WAY HIGH!  I'm going to have a talk with him about reigning it in this weekend.

The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located HERE.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 4 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $9,422.83.

We hit our monthly goal in May and then some, so now we are ahead of where we need to be

With 5 months done, we should be at $8,333.35 saved for the year, so $1,089.48 ahead for the year!

As for a look ahead at JUNE.....
* There will be another vet bill for surgery the beagle had this week.(It was put on the credit card.)
* The quarterly garbage bill will be due.
* Mini-vacation will cost money but most charges will be put on credit card so not due until July.(Good for June's figures but not for July's.)
* A 3rd paycheck in JUNE!!!  We will NOT use it toward our saving challenge goal however.  This check will go toward paying the home improvement projects that NEED to begin soon.

I figure I should be able to meet the monthly savings goal for this Challenge in June, barring any money fiascoes.

So how much did YOU save in May?  Did you spend all your income or did you put something aside?

Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses?
Do you have debt?

Start living below your means NOW and put some money away for emergencies and/or start paying down your debt.
And once you get debt-free, continue to throw that debt repayment money into savings.  You won't believe how fast you can accumulate wealth once you have no debt!

It is NEVER too early or too late to SAVE SOMETHING.
And the amount you save is NEVER too small!
Anything you can spare will go a long way to make you more financially secure in this crazy unstable world we live in.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $20K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

So how was your May financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in May?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge Report for April

Ok, here is my April Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save.

On to the April report.....

I have posted my APRIL End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up April in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of April with?.......$2,574.21!

Income
We had $2565.90 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $6.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses & $2.31 in interest and  you get a total of $2574.21.

Outgo
Traditionally April has been a fairly normal month as far as spending goes.  No big tax bills or lump payments. 

As for the expenses this April......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The mild winter temps continued, which decreased our heating/electric bill by about $80.  I like that...

*   Hubs decreased his WAM withdrawals this month.
*  No car maintenance/repairs bills this month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* Credit card bill was fairly high at $1400+.  A large part of that was the Summer Camp bill for #2 Son.  The good news is this is the LAST CAMP BILL WE WILL EVER PAY!  #2 Son is in Counselor Training this year so next year he starts working at camp. Yay!!!!

The Food Budget costs for April are in another post, which is located HERE. My stocking-up and overspending in March did help me stay under $230 in food spending for April.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 4 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $6,590.80.

We hit our monthly goal in April and then some, so now we are only a little behind where we should be for the year at this point, because of our bad March total.

With 4 months done, we should be at $6,666.67 saved for the year.  Only $75.87 to be caught up!

So how much did YOU save in April?  Did you spend all your income or did you put something aside?

Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses?
Do you have debt?

Start living below your means NOW and put some money away for emergencies and/or start paying down your debt.
And once you get debt-free, continue to throw that debt repayment money into savings.  You won't believe how fast you can accumulate wealth once you have no debt!

It is NEVER too early or too late to SAVE SOMETHING.
And the amount you save is NEVER too small!
Anything you can spare will go a long way to make you more financially secure in this crazy unstable world we live in.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $20K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

So how was your April financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy